The Habsburg monarchy wins lands in Hungary, the Principality of Transylvania and the Balkans Mediterranean The Great Turkish War (German: Großer Türkenkrieg) or The Last Crusade,[6] also called in Ottoman sources The Disaster Years[7] (Turkish: Felaket Seneleri), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Poland-Lithuania, Venice, Russia, and the Kingdom of Hungary.

The war was a resounding defeat for the Ottoman Empire, which for the first time lost substantial territory, in Hungary and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, as well as in part of the western Balkans.

[8] The French did not join the Holy League, as France had agreed to reviving an informal Franco-Ottoman alliance in 1673, in exchange for Louis XIV being recognized as a protector of Catholics in the Ottoman domains.

However, as the Holy League made gains against the Ottoman Empire, capturing Belgrade by 1688, the French began to worry that their Habsburg rivals would grow too powerful and eventually turn on France.

Therefore, the French besieged Philippsburg on 27 September 1688, breaking the truce and triggering the separate Nine Years' War against the Grand Alliance, which included the Dutch Republic, the Holy Roman Empire, and after the Glorious Revolution, England as well.

The war then fell into a stalemate, and peace was concluded in 1699 which began following the Battle of Zenta in 1697 when an Ottoman attempt to retake their lost possessions in Hungary was crushed by the Holy League.

In 1695, for instance, the Holy Roman Empire states had 280,000 troops in the field, with England, the Dutch Republic, and Spain contributing another 156,000, specifically to the conflict against France.

After three months, the Poles were forced to sign the Treaty of Buchach in which they agreed to cede Kamenets, Podolia and to pay tribute to the Ottomans.

When the news of the defeat and treaty terms reached Warsaw, the Sejm refused to pay the tribute and organized a large army under Sobieski; subsequently, the Poles won the Battle of Khotyn (1673).

[13] After the capture of Belgrade from the Ottomans in 1688, Serbs from the territories in the south of the Sava and Danube rivers began to join Serbian Militia units.

[13] The Roman Catholic bishop and philosopher Pjetër Bogdani returned to the Balkans in March 1686 and spent the next years promoting resistance to the armies of the Ottoman Empire, in particular in his native Kosovo.

[16] His nephew, Gjergj Bogdani, reported in 1698 that his uncle's remains were later exhumed by Turkish and Tatar soldiers and fed to the dogs in the middle of the square in Pristina.

[18] The Republic of Venice had held several islands in the Aegean and the Ionian seas, together with strategically positioned forts along the coast of the Greek mainland since the carving up of the Byzantine Empire after the Fourth Crusade.

[19] Aware that it would have to rely on its own strength for success, Venice prepared for the war by securing financial and military aid in men and ships from Hospitaller Malta, the Duchy of Savoy, the Papal States, and the Knights of St. Stephen.

Ismail Pasha, the new military commander of Morea, learned of this and invaded the Mani Peninsula with 10,000 men, reinforcing the three forts that the Ottomans already garrisoned, and compelled the Maniots to give up hostages to secure their loyalty.

In April 1686, the Venetians helped repulse an Ottoman attack that threatened to overrun Mani, and were reinforced from the Papal States and Tuscany.

The Swedish marshal Otto Wilhelm Königsmarck was appointed head of the land forces, while Morosini retained command of the fleet.

Despite the Venetians' success in capturing Palamidi, the arrival of a 7,000 strong Ottoman army under Ismail Pasha at Argos rendered their position difficult.

Nafplion became the Venetians' major base, while Ismail Pasha withdrew to Achaea after strengthening the garrisons at Corinth, which controlled the passage to central Greece.

Thus strengthened, he was able to move against the last major Ottoman bastion in the Peloponnese, the town of Patras and the fort of Rion, which along with its twin at Antirrion controlled the entrance to the Corinthian Gulf (the "Little Dardanelles").

At this point panic spread among the Ottoman forces, and the Venetians were able, within a few days, to capture the citadel of Patras, and the forts of Rion, Antirrion, and Nafpaktos (Lepanto) without any opposition, as their garrisons abandoned them.

[28] The Venetians followed up this success with the reduction of the last Ottoman bastions in the Peloponnese, including Corinth, which was occupied on 7 August,[29] and Mystra, which surrendered later in the month.

Only days before, he had received news of the mass slaughter at Perchtoldsdorf,[36] a town south of Vienna, where the citizens had handed over the keys of the city after having been given a similar choice.

On 6 September, the Poles under John III Sobieski crossed the Danube 30 km north-west of Vienna at Tulln to unite with the Imperial troops and the additional forces from Saxony, Bavaria, Baden, Franconia, and Swabia.

Despite the binational composition of the army and the short space of only six days, an effective leadership structure was established, centred on the Polish king and his Hussars.

The Holy League settled the issues of payment by using all available funds from the government, loans from several wealthy bankers and noblemen and large sums of money from the Pope.

[38] Also, the Habsburgs and Poles agreed that the Polish government would pay for its own troops while still in Poland, but that they would be paid by the Emperor once they had crossed into Imperial territory.

The cavalry headed straight for the Ottoman camps and Kara Mustafa's headquarters, while the remaining Viennese garrison sallied out of its defences to join in the assault.

[37]: 661 The Ottoman troops were tired and dispirited following the failure of both the attempt at sapping and the assault on the city and the advance of the Holy League infantry on the Turkenschanz.

This crippling defeat was the ultimate factor of the Ottoman Empire signing the Treaty of Karlowitz on January 22, 1699, ending the Great Turkish War.